New life for former Circuit City building

Long-vacant Whitehall property will host another buffet restaurant and store that benefits Habitat for Humanity.

Circuit City, just north of the Lehigh Valley Mall across Grape Street,… (DONNA FISHER, THE MORNING…)

September 22, 2012|Retail Watch | Scanning the Storefronts

The bankruptcy and closing of several hundred Circuit City stores in late 2008 dealt a serious blow to the nation's already weak retail scene.

The Great Recession had forced the extinction of several chains in the Lehigh Valley, including Tweeter and Linens 'n Things. It was a pretty depressing time, as once-busy shopping centers turned into retail cemeteries with landowners scrambling to fill the vacancies.

Among the hardest hit was retail-rich Whitehall Township, which lost numerous big box stores at a pretty brisk pace around the Lehigh Valley Mall.

The hemorrhaging has subsided in recent years, as newcomers like hhgregg and buybuy BABY made their presence known in the Valley's retail hub.

Others have followed and the turnaround continues.

Now, after years of being passed over for competing real estate, the former Circuit City building on Grape Street is coming back to life.

National buffet chain Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet is taking 13,000 square-feet and ReStore, a retail arm of Habitat for Humanity, inked a deal for 19,000 square feet at the property, according to Derek Zerfass of Colliers International, the real estate firm involved in the deal.

Hibachi Grill & Supreme Buffet has more than 50 locations in states such as North Carolina, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Whitehall restaurant, which is scheduled to open early next year, will mirror existing locations with more than 150 different items from sushi to rib-eye steak to black pepper shrimp, officials said.

The chain touts its buffets as among the largest in the country. Maybe those are just the right credentials needed to compete with the much-ballyhooed Golden Corral coming to the nearby Lehigh Valley Mall around Thanksgiving.

In addition to Golden Corral, Hibachi Grill will go head-to-head with the umpteen other low-cost buffets that have popped up in the region recently.

ReStore is scheduled to open later this year. The store, a first for the Valley, will be stocked with new and used donated construction materials and household goods at discounted prices, manager Janet Kolepp said.

There are several ReStores around the country, including in Temple, Berks County. Proceeds from the Whitehall store will support Habitat for Humanity's efforts to build homes for deserving families throughout the Lehigh Valley, Kolepp added.

The opening of the two new stores will bring a finally a happy ending to the Circuit City saga and the task of getting it rented again.

Zerfass has been trying to lease the former Circuit City space for years, courting hhgregg,Raymour & Flanigan and other retailers. But they passed it over for nearby spaces that better suited their store designs, Zerfass said.

The building's owner initially planned to keep the Circuit City space intact, but after numerous failed deals, he agreed to break it up. The property includes two buildings and one a warehouse bridged together, with some narrow entrances — a configuration that's less than optimal for some merchants.

It was one of the last vacant big-box store spaces in Whitehall.

The long-vacant Hamburger Stand fast-food restaurant at 1134 Hanover Ave., Allentown was recently sold and there are plans for another restaurant there.

Zudi Katza, owner of Ray's Pizza in Allentown, purchased the space. Katza said Wednesday that a restaurant would be going in the space, but there are no details yet.

The Stand has been vacant since 2010.

It's good to see some action on Hanover Avenue, the east Allentown stretch beset with many vacancies among the sea of used car lots and pubs.

The Stand's closing was followed by the short-lived Right Choice Autos by Sands Automotive Group, a used car lot that replaced Sands Chevrolet. That business was one of roughly 2,000 General Motors dealerships that lost their franchises in the Detroit automaker's bankruptcy reorganization.

Other vacancies include a closed gas station, a former 7-Eleven and the former Sands "budget" lot at the intersection of Maxwell Street. Those spaces remain vacant.

Grille 3501 is looking to expand its footprint at 3501 Broadway, South Whitehall Township.

The New York fusion restaurant, lauded as one of the premier dining spots in the Valley, is looking to add roughly 50 seats and expand operations by gobbling up a garage connected to the restaurant, owner John Trapani said.

The restaurant's development plans are before South Whitehall Township officials and a decision should be announced later this month, he added.

Trapani said the additional space will make room for private parties and other events at the 120-seat restaurant, which opened in 2001. There are plans to rearrange some parking too, Trapani added.

Frozen yogurt shops continue to gobble up retail space in the Lehigh Valley.